I’ve just begun the sport of kite boarding (about 3 weeks ago) and did as much research before buying gear as one can do. I had many questions, some of which were do I need a helmet, life jacket, and how much wind do I need to do it. Well, I live in the middle of Utah and, of course, no one knows what kite boarding is so needless to say I was going to have to learn by watching videos. I have a friend who was going to learn with me which was going to help and as you’ll soon read, it was good thing.
Last Saturday the 18th we decided to go and see how the winds were at the lake. Upon arriving we found white caps on the lake and estimated a 15 kt wind. We got one kite ready and decided to give it a go. (By the way, I never did buy a helmet, but fortunately did get a life jacket after drowning myself the first few times out). I was going to continue practicing body dragging through the water and did so for about 5 minutes or so til the wind began gusting 25 to 30kts and shifting directions. I got launched out of the water several times and before I knew it was landing on the rocky beach. I had the de-power loop hooked the whole time thinking it would give me a little more control (ha ha). The last thing I remember, I was running fast and furious to keep up with the pulling kite. My friend watched as I did a cart wheel, landing on my head. I stood up immediately not knowing I had two fairly good sized holes in my head til blood blurred the vision in my left eye. Well I ended up with a few stitches and over a dozen staples and will be looking for a helmet before going again. Luckily the loop detached from the harness, otherwise this may have been a lot worse.
